2024 NFL Draft: 4 teams that should trade back
• The Patriots are in line to receive a massive trade haul if they play their cards right: New England could gain significant draft capital by trading back from No. 3, all while still drafting a quarterback later on.
• The Miami Dolphins could use more draft ammo: The Dolphins have just five 2024 picks, including just two before the fifth round.
• Draft and trade for yourself: Try PFF’s Mock Draft Simulator — trade picks and players and mock for your favorite NFL team.
One of the great debates when it comes time to the NFL Draft is the overarching strategy of trades and the number of draft picks weighed against the position of those draft picks.
Do teams get aggressive, trade up for a player and sacrifice picks to do so? Or do they trade back, accumulate more lottery tickets and maximize their chances of coming away with good players?
Generally, the latter strategy is seen as playing the odds most efficiently, but it means passing up on higher-ranked players and essentially trusting that the process outweighs all of the work teams have done on evaluating the class.
In the 2024 NFL Draft, four teams have an obviously strong case to trade back and play that game.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
On the one hand, there is a pretty good chance that the third quarterback off the board is just as good as, if not better than, the second or even first selected. On the other hand, hoping a player who could well be your third choice is the new answer at the most important position in the game on a roster that needs significant work is not a comfortable position for the Patriots to be in.
Headed by a new regime for the first time in decades, this is a one-time opportunity for the Patriots to trade out of a very valuable draft spot and accumulate picks to rebuild the team, punting on a quarterback until either later in the draft or next year.
With several of the most quarterback-needy teams picking from Nos. 11-13 in the draft, the Patriots could potentially receive a massive haul for the third pick. A few years ago, San Francisco essentially traded three first-round picks to make the jump from No. 12 to No. 3 to select Trey Lance. The Minnesota Vikings are already positioned with two first-rounders this year if they want to make that move.
The Patriots could jump-start a rebuild with that kind of trade and set up the infrastructure for a new quarterback to step into next year, rather than hoping that the guy they select at No. 3 overall can transform things by himself.
